It’s that time of year now when seniors in high school or transfer students from colleges are starting to apply for the fall semester to get into their top college or university. Students are wondering, “Am I good enough for this college?” “Will they accept me?”, “God I hope I get it!” Then months pass by and finally that letter comes in the mail to find out you did not get into your top school. Unfortunately, this is exactly what happened to me.

Ever since I was a little kid I always dreamed about going to NYU. Do not ask me why because I really could not tell you. It has just always been the dream of mine. When I was a junior in high school I went and visited the university for the first time and I fell absolutely in love with the school. I wanted to go to Tisch School For The Arts. That was my goal. I busted my ass off in high school to make sure my grades were up to par. I prepared all of my audition materials because yes, us theatre majors have to audition to get into college. We have to apply and audition. It was also time to take the SATS and ACTS. HA! This is where I did not succeed.

I was not admitted into my dream school because my SAT score was just average. I was an average human being with an average score. I’m sorry, I did not know a grade for a test you really cannot study for defined who I am as a human being. I thought maybe my personality, and talent could make me stand out from everybody else but due to my average SAT score I was not admitted into my dream school.

I busted my ass off throughout high school to make sure my grades were up to par but one test score defined who I was. I did not think this was fair and I when I received my denial letter I was devastated. Every one of my friends were getting to go to their dream schools and I had to stay home because I did not want to go to any other school. I made the decision to go to Suffolk County Community College.

My time at Suffolk, however, has not been one of the best but that is a completely different story. My whole reasoning for posting this article is for everyone to realize that not getting into your dream school is not the end of the world. I truly believed it was but it isn’t. You need to turn that sadness and use it to better yourself. You need to become even stronger and do even better for the next time you start to apply to schools again. Don’t let a denial letter determine your future. You are the only one who can control your future, not some college who only knows you through a piece of paper.

This year I will be reapplying to NYU in hopes of getting into their musical theatre program at Tisch. I learned from my mistakes the first time and now I am different person because of that experience. If you are denied from your dream school, remember it is not the end of the world and to just keep swimming.